In 2018, cell phones, tablets and computers combined with free applications or software give us the ability to create high quality video and broadcast it within moments. The internet gives us access to vast free video resources. Yet in spite of these technological innovations, students still consume digital media mostly passively in classroom settings. Three free online platforms allow you to create different types of video-based tasks that engage your students more actively.

In the context of a research project funded by the “Fonds de Recherche du Québec sur la société et la culture” (FRQRSC), 311 students from Dawson College and Cégep André-Laurendeau were surveyed online, in French or English, about their teachers’ practices in the use of ICTs and cyber-learning. This survey allowed the researchers to collect data on the teachers’ use of technology as well as the students’ level of satisfaction regarding this use.

The Office 365 OneNote Class Notebook is my favorite online tool for distributing course content as it greatly facilitates note taking and includes the Immersive Reader, which is a great tool for eliminating difficulties related to screen-based reading. By integrating my class notebook into the Office 365 Teams application, I have developed a very comprehensive collaborative and structured learning environment allowing all tasks to be completed in one place.

PowerPoint is one of those ubiquitous software programs few tend to laud. We’ve all sat through at least one tedious presentation commonly referred to as “death by PowerPoint.” Yet because of its relative user-friendliness, many teachers still rely on it as part of a lecture or to share content with students. Rather than introducing alternatives to the slideshow format, this article presents 2 applications that work hand-in-hand with PowerPoint to make it a more effective, dynamic and inclusive experience: SlideLizard and Hypersay (which also works with Google Slides).

Would you like to ask your students formative evaluation questions in class? If they have laptops or tablets, you might like Formative! Formative is a free web-based evaluation tool. Using Formative, the teacher sees student answers appear in real time and can provide students with immediate feedback. In addition, Formative allows students to answer questions with drawings.

As part of our Inspiring Portraits series, we present Huguette Dupont, an organized, rallying and involved pedagogical advisor. Amidst the great news that was released recently about the ICT Profile, we wanted to feature this busy bee!

Your Collegial Network Resources

ACPQ

The ACPQ (Association des collèges privés du Québec) is an umbrella organization for 25 college-level teaching establishments subsidized by MESRST. The ACPQ brings together teachers, administrators, and personnel of member colleges for pedagogical workshops that it organizes annually. It also manages support programs for research and international activities.

APOP

APOP meets the professional development needs of teaching personnel by offering online professional development and moderation activities. The purpose of these services is to support teaching personnel in their use of technology on the job. From an introduction to the features of a software application to the development of scripted teaching strategies, concepts are updated in terms of practices and emerging needs.

AQPC

The AQPC (Association québécoise de pédagogie collégiale) promotes the support and development of college educational mastery through gatherings and publications to foster the sharing of experience as well as the adoption of research results, pedagogical innovations and information technology. Among the AQPC’s activities is their annual symposium and the Pédagogie collégiale journal.

ARC

ARC (Association pour la recherche au collégial) works to promote research in college-level establishments. ARC is there to promote research and provide information to college network teachers who might wish to conduct research.

CCDMD

The Collegial Centre for Educational Materials Development (CCDMD) produces computer-based resources and printed documents for teachers and students of the Quebec college network. It has an impressive catalogue of educational materials and participates in a number of highly interesting projects for college teachers, including Netquiz Web, the World of Images collection as well as symposiums produced in tandem with the AQPC to improve teaching skills. The CCDMD works for you and with you!

CDC

The CDC (Centre de documentation collégiale) is the only unique library focusing on college education. The CDC has a mandate to serve francophone and anglophone Cegeps, both public and private, across Quebec. Its collection has been developed specifically to meet the information needs of teachers, professionals, managers, researchers and future teachers of the college network.

Cégep à distance

Cégep à distance is a college dedicated to distance learning. It hosts a diverse student population with a significant student population referred from within the college network. By the very nature of its courses, the Cégep à distance is at the avant-garde of technology. It makes much of the teaching material that it designs available to teachers in the Quebec college network.

DECCLIC

The corporation Plateforme collégiale DECclic hosts and maintains the Moodle environment along with other related services. It also moderates the DECclic community with online help, professional development, and network activities.

IT Rep

The IT Rep/REPTIC Network is a community practice of pedagogical counsellors responsible for the integration of ICTs into Quebec colleges. IT Reps work with teachers at their school to support the pedagogical integration of ICTs. The IT Rep also ensures that the resources of ICT partners have concrete benefits in their setting.

Performa

Performa is a partner dedicated to the professional development and training of ICT savvy teachers. Performa brings together a faculty of the Université de Sherbrooke and 61 college-level institutions. Performa provides access to accredited professional development activities specifically adapted to the needs of college network teachers.

Profweb

Profweb shares inspiring teaching practices in addition to providing articles on educational and digital news from the Quebec college network. Profweb also promotes digital resources related to teaching and learning in colleges and offers a calendar of events. Finally, Profweb offers college teachers a free web hosting environment for their educational projects.

VTÉ

The mission of Vitrine Technologie-Éducation (VTÉ) is to promote and support integration of technology into postsecondary education. The VTÉ is recognized for its technology watch activities, whose results are relayed to the entire network. The VTÉ also disseminates pedagogical resources through means of its rich and comprehensive CERES catalogue—a veritable treasure chest!

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